Vancouver Officers Free to Smoke Pot, So Long as they Arrive ‘Fit for Duty,’ Police Board Says

With just weeks to go before legalization, the Vancouver Police Board approved on Wednesday a set of regulations for officers’ use of cannabis.

As per recommendations laid out in an August report by the Vancouver Police Department, the board rejected a 24-hour pre-shift period of abstinence in favour of a standard that simply states officers must arrive to work “fit for duty.”

Implementing a 24-hour abstinence period is less than ideal, the August report states, because cannabis affects different individuals to varying degrees, and there is no medical consensus on how long cannabinoids like THC — the main psychoactive ingredient in cannabis — take to clear the system.